Reflections 2025
Projects and campaigns
Culture
In the period from mid-September to mid-November 2025, the campaign 'Maastricht, city of performing arts' was rolled out. The primary aim was to encourage multi-day overnight stays by national art and culture lovers. Central to this was strengthening Maastricht's positioning as a city of culture.
Performing arts
The campaign explicitly highlighted the performing arts - dance, music and theatre. Using a targeted resource mix, we set out to reach and entice culture lovers from all over the Netherlands, with a particular focus on the major cities in the Randstad. To activate national culture lovers to visit Maastricht. In the execution, we worked closely with the City of Maastricht and the city's cultural institutions: Maastricht Academy of Music, City of Maastricht, International Festival Vocallis, Musica Sacra Maastricht, Nederlandse Dansdagen, Philzuid, SALLY, Servé Hermans Productions, Theater aan het Vrijthof, Toneelacademie Maastricht, Toneelgroep Maastricht and Via Zuid.
The paid commitment consisted of:
- An NRC culture supplement
- Outdoor and indoor campaigns
- Print advertisements in national media
- Online display advertising
- Paid social media campaigns (reach: 207,780)
NRC supplement
The campaign officially launched on 11 September 2025 with the publication of the culture supplement 'Maastricht, city of performing arts' in NRC.
The supplement contained in-depth articles on music, dance and theatre in Maastricht, complemented by a comprehensive Uitagenda for the campaign period. In it, there was an explicit appeal to combine the cultural offerings with a multi-day stay in the city.
An additional 10,000 printed copies were distributed in restaurants and shops in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Maastricht. In addition, the supplement was available at the Maastricht Store in the Dinghuis during the campaign period, where staff actively distributed it to visitors.
Outdoor campaign
During weeks 38 to 44, the campaign image was visible on 160 surfaces by Bauer Media Outdoor, including bus shelters and car parks in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Maastricht. The campaign achieved a total of 2.8 million ROTS (Real Opportunity To See). It should be noted that panels in Utrecht were not fully included in the measurement, so the actual reach is expected to be higher.
Indoor and print advertising
Besides the distribution of the NRC supplement, A2 posters were hung in catering establishments and shops in major cities.
Through Culture Enzovoort, advertisements have been placed in leading national media, well-suited to the intended target group of art and culture lovers, including:
- De Volkskrant (average reach: 522,000)
- Trouw (average reach: 206,000)
- Het Parool (average reach: 143,000)
- De Groene Amsterdammer (average reach: 108,000)
Maastrichtiscultuur.nl
All campaign messages referred to Maastrichtiscultuur.nl. On this landing page, we bundled the full cultural offering, accommodation options, in-depth blogs and referrals to museums, galleries, education and culture makers. In 2025, the Uitagenda (including Cultural Uitagenda) had 236,327 unique users and 836,341 views including all separate events.
Social media
Between September and November, we deploy both organic and paid expressions via Instagram and Facebook to highlight the cultural offerings. These included posts with culture tips and reels aimed at interaction and visibility. These posts reached a total of over 5.5 million views.
Through the combination of a strong editorial base (NRC supplement), broad visibility through outdoor and print, targeted online advertising and a powerful deployment of own channels, a substantial national reach was achieved. The results show that the campaign effectively contributed to Maastricht's positioning as a leading cultural city in terms of both reach and engagement.
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Ed People
Ed People (3.8 million followers on TikTok and 2 million on Instagram) travels around the world asking people about their favourite dance moves. In October - at the invitation of Dutch Dance Days and Maastricht Marketing - he came to Maastricht. During the dance festival, he danced with passers-by and shared this on his channels.
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Tourist stars
Did you know that Michelin annually awards stars not only to restaurants, but also to tourist attractions? This year, no fewer than five spots in Maastricht were awarded. The old town, the Mount Saint Peter and the Walmuur received 1 star ('worth a visit'). The Saint Servatius Basilica and the Bonnefanten received 2 stars ('worth a diversion').
Navigate to other - projects and campaigns
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TEFAF
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Heiligdomsvaart Maastricht
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Carmina Burana
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Longer stays
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Magical Maastricht
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André Rieu
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Knowledge and innovation city
